I think the way it's intended is this: iCloud Music Library is a general service that can store songs (with your own meta data) in the cloud. The songs can come from different sources, including purchases from the store, songs matched or uploaded via Match, and now songs from Apple Music. In that sense, iTunes Match is a service that sits on top of the iCloud music library (and so is Apple Music).
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iTunes Match is not dead! Do not ditch it yet, read this...
- Thread starter Soni Sanjay
- Start date
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And that's just the beginning...
Match also gives clean versions instead of explicit ones, Stereo versions instead of Mono, single versions instead of album versions, Greatest hits versions instead of regular album versions... Regular files instead of Mastered for iTunes files...
That's my main problem with Match right now... It matches almost every time now... But it gives you different versions of the same song! It would be nice that Apple let you choose what version of a certain track you want, for the sake of consistency.
Very important thing...
If you have purchased or matched songs, and you want Apple to recognize that you already own them... Make sure you download them before activating iTunes Music Library.
If you have purchased or matched files, but they are not downloaded and you have the cloud icon with the arrow facing down... When you activate iCloud Music Library it won't recognize that you own the tracks... For some reason it requires that you have your songs locally, not in the cloud to work.
If you have purchased or matched songs, and you want Apple to recognize that you already own them... Make sure you download them before activating iTunes Music Library.
If you have purchased or matched files, but they are not downloaded and you have the cloud icon with the arrow facing down... When you activate iCloud Music Library it won't recognize that you own the tracks... For some reason it requires that you have your songs locally, not in the cloud to work.
Does the bolded one happen if you have bought the track from iTunes or only if you have imported it some other way?
B
I kept reading this part from the article but it's incorrect, at least partially:
My wife has lots of international music purchased from the US iTunes Store on her iPhone and she is not an iTunes Match subscriber, she does not have these downloaded locally, and these are tracks that are NOT found in Apple Music when you search for them, yet all these show up in her music app and are streamable and downloadable.
What I'm concerned at this point are the matched tracks in your library that aren't in the iTunes store. For example I have a ton of bought music CDs of electronic music DJ sets that I ripped into my library years ago but are not sold through the iTunes Store. With iTunes Match gone, will these tracks continue to remain visible in my Music app and will I be able to not only download, but stream these like I can right now? I'm not too concerned about the DRM at this point. I just want to know if my non-iTunes store music will still be accessible to my devices running Apple Music only.
Might anyone know more about this?
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It doesn't matter where the track comes from, sometimes they give you a copy that's not even in the store anymore, instead of the new "Mastered for iTunes" file that's available
I bought a Beatles song from iTunes, attempted to match it with another account, and it gave me a regular file, I imported the same track directly from my CD copy, and still I only get a regular file. I downloaded the same song from the Internet, and it still gives me a regular file. It is not like they do it on purpose, it's because the match algorithm is so weird that on some songs it DOES give you a Mastered for iTunes file, regardless of where the file came from, even if it is illegally downloaded, or from another store, or from a CD. But with some tracks Match just refuses to give you the MFi version.
The only workaround is delete the song, delete the last 2 or 3 seconds, save it, re-add it to the library, match it, and THEN finally it gives you the MFi version. It works 90% of the time. Although I had like 10 or 20 songs that just refuse to cooperate and they always match to an outdated version, usually an old non-MFi one. But that's rare.
The only thing I don't know is why do I have to go through all that process for Match to actually work, why some tracks get matched instantly to the right MFi version and why others don't. But in my experience the source is irrelevant, hell, even some songs that I bought right from the store, that are MFi files, when I try to match them on another account, they give me an outdated version. So... It's just weird. And some others that are low-quality MP3s actually match.
Yes they will, they will get uploaded and you will be able to stream and download them, however if you stop paying for Apple Music, they won't be in the cloud anymore, as long as you don't delete the source files your copies will remain in your library, completely safe.
I'm not sure why you think it should match that particular version of the song. The matching algorithm will look for the closest match. If that happens to be an older release, I'd expect that to be the one that will be matched.
Personally, I'd prefer if Apple allowed us to force Match to upload our original files for particular songs rather than matching (Google has such a feature). Many of my songs are rips from older CD releases that often sound better than newer "remastered" versions that often use terrible amounts of dynamic compression (google "loudness war").
Thanks again for the informative reply Soni! So that article on Mashable was wrong about that.
So far I intend to pay for Apple Music indefinitely so I'd like to have all my sources files deleted to maximize space on machine. Though I understand if I decide to ditch Apple Music, I'll either have to redownload all those tracks before the subscription lapses or resort to reripping my CDs (still own them) into my library if the subscription has already lapsed
I guess one last thing I'm iffy about, and now that is going back to the issue of DRM. Once my iTunes Match subscription lapses, does choosing to download either my iTunes purchased tracks or my non-iTunes store tracks (uploaded, matched, etc.) yield DRM or DRM free files?
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Except that, that almost never happens. The matching algorithm isn't precise enough to distinguish that, as I said, I had a MFi track I bought from the store, then when I match it on another account, it gave me the old version, and viceversa. It's just at random. It SHOULD work exactly the way you said it, but it doesn't.
Yes I am aware that new recordings are affected by the loudness wars. So some people prefer their copies that come from old masters, or their MFSL or 24 Karat Gold CDs. That's why I suggested that Apple provided an option for us to choose what version do we want, if the matching algorithm detects that there are 2 or more possible matches for a specific song AND give us the option to just upload without matching the files. that would be great too.
well i don't have match, but i am still confused..
is there a way to download the songs for offline use on apple music then use Match to get the DRM free copy?
Like:
Download offline use
back it up some where
remove from apple music & offline copy
re-add the backup
use match to get DRM free copy?
Notes: no rule breaking here since ur using apple's own services...
is there a way to download the songs for offline use on apple music then use Match to get the DRM free copy?
Like:
Download offline use
back it up some where
remove from apple music & offline copy
re-add the backup
use match to get DRM free copy?
Notes: no rule breaking here since ur using apple's own services...
That would be awesome, but no, I tried it, it doesn't give you the option to do it. It recognizes that it is an Apple Music file, and it doesn't give you the option. So, no.
If you let iTunes Match expire, you must download the songs before it expires, I am not sure what would happen, but most likely all the songs in the cloud would be converted to Apple Music songs, so when you redownload them they would come back as DRM files. If you want to keep the DRM-free songs, just download them before Match expires.
Personally I am going 100% streaming, and I don't really mind the DRM files since I don't need them for anything, and when I love an album so much I usually buy the CD, mainly for the physical booklet.
well i do mind the DRM not a huge fan of it nor the m4a format for audio files prefer MP3 + i tend to share the music i own time to time or able to access it via my Plex media server. when i am studying at collage, very useful. since they block most apple services but not private home services that i am running from home...
Ok... I have been trying to figure this mess out, and I think I got it, except for one last (potentially very big) problem.
I have had iTunes Match for almost a year. I have a copy of every song I own on my Mac. In iTunes, if I show the columns "Kind" and "iCloud Status", this is what I see:
iCloud Status -- Kind
------------------------
Matched -- Matched AAC audio file
Uploaded -- MPEG audio file
Purchased -- Purchased AAC audio file
That all makes perfect sense to me, as a 1-to-1 mapping between "iCloud Status" and "Kind". When I delete the song from iTunes, I can download exactly the same "Kind" as shown here.
BUT... now I have the free Apple Music subscription, and this is what I see on songs I have Made Available Offline from Apple Music Playlists:
iCloud Status -- Kind
------------------------
Apple Music -- Matched AAC audio file
Apple Music -- MPEG audio file
Apple Music -- Purchased AAC audio file
Apple Music -- Apple Music ACC audio file
The last one is DRM protected, which I understand. But I don't understand why the first three are getting set to Status = Apple Music. I have non-DRM copies of them that I own already!
It seems like Apple Music was unable to find the matching song from iTunes Match, and changed the "iCloud Status" to Apple Music (Protected by DRM). So if I start downloading a lot of playlist songs, my library will slowly be converted to Apple Music, at least according to Apple Music servers. If I ever accidentally delete these songs, I can only re-download the DRM version that will disappear when my subscription ends, even though I had them on iTunes Match for a year already.
Does anyone see similar behavior? Any idea what is going on? Am I looking at this the wrong way? They aren't adding DRM to my files, but they are setting the "Status" to Apple Music which means I can never download a DRM-free version of that song in the future, even though I had it before.
Any ideas? Help? Thanks everyone!
I have had iTunes Match for almost a year. I have a copy of every song I own on my Mac. In iTunes, if I show the columns "Kind" and "iCloud Status", this is what I see:
iCloud Status -- Kind
------------------------
Matched -- Matched AAC audio file
Uploaded -- MPEG audio file
Purchased -- Purchased AAC audio file
That all makes perfect sense to me, as a 1-to-1 mapping between "iCloud Status" and "Kind". When I delete the song from iTunes, I can download exactly the same "Kind" as shown here.
BUT... now I have the free Apple Music subscription, and this is what I see on songs I have Made Available Offline from Apple Music Playlists:
iCloud Status -- Kind
------------------------
Apple Music -- Matched AAC audio file
Apple Music -- MPEG audio file
Apple Music -- Purchased AAC audio file
Apple Music -- Apple Music ACC audio file
The last one is DRM protected, which I understand. But I don't understand why the first three are getting set to Status = Apple Music. I have non-DRM copies of them that I own already!
It seems like Apple Music was unable to find the matching song from iTunes Match, and changed the "iCloud Status" to Apple Music (Protected by DRM). So if I start downloading a lot of playlist songs, my library will slowly be converted to Apple Music, at least according to Apple Music servers. If I ever accidentally delete these songs, I can only re-download the DRM version that will disappear when my subscription ends, even though I had them on iTunes Match for a year already.
Does anyone see similar behavior? Any idea what is going on? Am I looking at this the wrong way? They aren't adding DRM to my files, but they are setting the "Status" to Apple Music which means I can never download a DRM-free version of that song in the future, even though I had it before.
Any ideas? Help? Thanks everyone!
When you activated Apple Music, did you have the songs locally downloaded? Or just in the cloud?
Locally downloaded. I have a copy of every song on my computer. But it doesn't seem like Apple Music can find/match them for some reason and decides that it's now an Apple Music file.
That sucks. It is a major bug. If you already had your music matched and downloaded it should not exchange them for Apple Music files...
Did it change even your purchased files? Or just the matched ones?
I didn't have this problem - I have no music locally stored on my MBP and when I updated to iTunes 12.2, it continued to show all my existing music with the correct status (Purchased, Matched, Uploaded) and I can continue to download them DRM free. I do have an active match subscription so I don't know if that makes a difference?
Oh sorry, I misspoke on the Purchased ones. From my testing just now, it seems like Apple Music is recognizing the Purchased songs and not offering to "Make Available Offline". But the rest are definitely getting changed over to Apple Music.
My workaround at the moment is:
1. Make an "Apple Music" playlist
2. Find the listed songs that used to be in iTunes Match in the folder structure ("Show in Folder")
3. Copy the non-DRM files from the folder to the Desktop
4. Delete the songs from iTunes
5. Re-import the songs from my Desktop
6. Watch as the songs are magically changed back to iTunes Matched.
Sigh...
Apologies in advance if this has already been answered.
Let's say 1) I have a (legal) collection of music that I have ripped from my own CDs at high bitrate. 2) I do not need higher quality files and so don't subscribe to Match. 3) I am interested in what Apple Music offers and am fully prepared to have DRM files for tracks not in my collection, and not being able to play them after dropping my subscription.
Under what scenario do I risk having my DRM-free rips over-written by DRMd files?
1. Would streaming the same track from Apple Music do so?
2. Would saving a track from Apple Music for offline use do so?
If so, what precautions can be taken? Backing up my full music collection seems a brute-force approach. Avoiding using Apple Music to stream or attempt to keep for offline use tracks that I already own would be another. That may be impractical, as I can't say with 100% certainty that I have my own tracks locally every time they may get my interest in Apple Music. Surely there would be a practical way to protect your own (honest) rips from being replaced by DRM versions?
Let's say 1) I have a (legal) collection of music that I have ripped from my own CDs at high bitrate. 2) I do not need higher quality files and so don't subscribe to Match. 3) I am interested in what Apple Music offers and am fully prepared to have DRM files for tracks not in my collection, and not being able to play them after dropping my subscription.
Under what scenario do I risk having my DRM-free rips over-written by DRMd files?
1. Would streaming the same track from Apple Music do so?
2. Would saving a track from Apple Music for offline use do so?
If so, what precautions can be taken? Backing up my full music collection seems a brute-force approach. Avoiding using Apple Music to stream or attempt to keep for offline use tracks that I already own would be another. That may be impractical, as I can't say with 100% certainty that I have my own tracks locally every time they may get my interest in Apple Music. Surely there would be a practical way to protect your own (honest) rips from being replaced by DRM versions?
Trudging through all the confusion and complexity here, it looks like Apple might have created a musical Franken-monster over the years.
Glad I kept all my CDs.
Glad I kept all my CDs.
I was looking forward to Apple Music, now I wish it just go away again. So many issues with iTunes Match on all my different machines, iPads and iPhones.
Managed to restore my library through Time machine and I think turn off Apple Music on everything other than my iPhone where it seems to be working okay (touch wood).
Managed to restore my library through Time machine and I think turn off Apple Music on everything other than my iPhone where it seems to be working okay (touch wood).
I can't speak for potential bugs, but you shouldn't have DRMd files overwrite any existing files, and if you "Remove Download" and "Make Available Offline," any Purchased or Matched files downloaded should be DRM-free. At least that's the way it is working for me currently in iTunes 12.2 on OS X El Capitan.
To avoid any conflicts, I would avoid "Add to My Music" for any track until you've verified that you don't already own it. They clearly try to match up Apple Music tracks to your current collection, but it seems to be thrown off by slight differences in metadata. You can end up with duplicates in iOS that are both removed if you remove one of them. In my case, though, that didn't translate to losing the existing file in iTunes.
My complaint with Apple Music, and the reason that I've Removed all the albums that I initially Added to my libary is that it won't sync DRMd files to iPods. If I can't sync my music to my iPods, then it's not my music. Apple Music is dead to me until they change this.